Antalya Municipality Festival Tender Faces Bribery and Corruption Charges

Antalya Metropolitan Municipality organized the 2022 Yoruk Turkmen Festival in the At Cayiri neighborhood of Aksu district. The tender for the event was awarded to the municipal company ANSET, which then subcontracted the work to Aktuel. The contract, signed on April 13, 2022, was worth 6 million 700 thousand Turkish liras.

Prosecutors allege that Aktuel used municipal employees to carry out important parts of the organization, despite being the winning bidder. Instruction memos signed by Muhittin Bocek reportedly assigned tasks to municipal department heads that belonged to the contractor.

“The festival tender caused damage to the public treasury by preventing competition through subcontracting to the municipality's own company.”

The indictment states that using municipal resources and personnel for tendered work harmed competition and caused damage to the public treasury. The case is part of a broader bribery and corruption investigation into the municipality.

The main indictment runs 702 pages and covers 26 alleged acts. Forty-one defendants are charged, including Muhittin Bocek, his son Mustafa Gokhan Bocek, former police chief Ilker Arslan, and businessmen Fazli Ateş and Mehmet Okan Kaya.

Prosecutors seek confiscation of about 170 million 83 thousand Turkish liras in cash and deposits, along with 10 apartments, five vehicles, five workplaces, one luxury watch, and one mobile phone. The total value of seized movable and immovable assets is listed as 258 million 600 thousand Turkish liras.

A supplementary 24-page indictment was prepared following a criminal complaint involving nine businessmen and Serkan T., the municipality's former deputy secretary general. The Antalya 6th Heavy Penal Court accepted the 702-page indictment.